You know what’s missing from much of Death Metal today? The fun factor. That’s not to say that all Death Metal needs to be “fun” per se, as the world definitely needs its uber serious, stuff such as NILE and BEHEMOTH. However, many of the genre’s classics – “Altars Of Madness”, “Leprosy”, “Butchered At Birth”, “Symphonies Of Sickness”, etc. – were all viciously menacing, but were also a blast to simply rock out to. With the exception of the whole Death/Thrash/Punk sound made “popular” by Razorback Records, much of the Death Metal out there simply takes itself too seriously.

Enter BONE GNAWER, and their debut album, “Feast Of Flesh”. Lead by semi-cult vocalist Kam Lee, BONE GNAWER cook up some groovy, fast and festering Death Metal, all soaked in heaps of B-movie gore. The lyrics are over-the-top and incredibly tongue-in-cheek – just look at the song titles – but the whole album is just a good time to crank up and thrash about with.There’s nothing remotely original about “Feast Of Flesh”, and anyone craving genre progression might as well skip the album. Minus the modern production, the album feels nicely old-school, and will appeal in spades to anyone (like myself) missing the fun days of Death Metal.